Apparently, OpenAI is stepping back from handling bookings directly in ChatGPT and redirecting transactions to third-party platforms and the market reacted immediately, with OTAs gaining value, as if a threat had been lifted.

Here is my take:

I believe OpenAI did not have any idea how a) complex travel inspiration, planning and booking is, and b) how complex travel and hotel tech infrastructure is.

OpenAI did not take into account:

• The complexity of hospitality stakeholder universe (owners, operators, major hotel brands)
• The state of hotel tech stack (600,000 hotels have on-premises tech stacks not even cloud ones),
• Travelers’ loyalty affiliations (Marriott has 260 million loyalty members, Hilton 225M, Booking 200M plus)
• Travelers’ entrenched travel inspiration, planning and booking habits, even inertia.

The Digital Customer Journey is like a meandering river with dozens of digital touch points (Google claims 48 of those). In my view, LLMs will become just one of these touch points, same as what Google currently is after 25 years of trying hard to become a one-stop-travel booking platform (Remember the failed “Book on Google?”).

Google saw the light before ChatGPT. In Google’s own words: “To make agentic AI a reality, Google is working on building out the experience with industry partners such as Booking..com, Expedia, Marriott International, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Choice Hotels International and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.”

What will get Google in return? Affiliate commissions!

The OTAs have a ready-to wear solution for the Agentic AI platforms: affiliate commissions (typically 5%-8%) plus quick access to 750,000 hotels, 2.5 million short-term rentals, 400 plus airlines, 150 car rental companies, etc.

The major hotel chains will use a similar tactic.

Independent hotels? The only option is for CRS, Channel Managers and cloud PMS vendors to plug directly into Google’s UCP or to AI platforms like ChatGPT via MCP or A2A, allowing travelers to search and book rooms. Similar to how these vendors currently handle metasearch, they will charge the hotel a fee, which they can share with the AI platforms.

Max Starkov
Hospitality & Online Travel Tech Consultant & Strategist

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